Charlie Hunnam Pulls Out of ‘Fifty Shades’ Lead Role

Some fans of the book weren't happy with his casting

The producers of the upcoming film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey are scrambling to find a new male lead.

British actor Charlie Hunnam had been tapped to play Christian Grey in the movie version of the ultra-racy novel, but over the weekend, the filmmakers released a statement saying that he had withdrawn from the project, Entertainment Weekly notes.

Hunnam is currently shooting the final season of the hit cable TV show Sons of Anarchy. In the statement, the Fifty Shades‘ team said that his TV schedule did not give him enough time to develop the character.

However, Hunnam may have signaled his own misgivings about the role in recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, when he observed that, “There are so many fans of that book and I know that on the surface, I’m probably not what everybody imagined.”